10 Behind The Scenes Stories From WWE King Of The Ring 1998

10. Vince McMahon Demanded More Entertainment Before The Show

In the weeks preceding King Of The Ring, a focused Vince McMahon sat his creative troops down and told them he wanted pay-per-views to be more like episodes of Raw. At first, the writers were baffled. Weren't monthly specials supposed to be all about the actual matches themselves?

Not in Vince's mind.

McMahon wanted more entertainment on the bigger events, and that's why he booked an in-ring promo for himself shortly after the card's first match; incidentally, that Headbangers and Taka Michinoku vs. Kaientai six-man only happened because the WWF were stalling for time due to injuries both The Undertaker (broken foot) and Steve Austin (staph infection) had suffered.

Those problems fit snugly with Vince's vision for more of a loose feel to the shows overall. It's why the company started running more backstage segments on supershows over the next couple of years. Suddenly, pay-per-views became longer episodes of regular television, only they had marquee matches to make them must-see.